The aim of this investigation is to explore the feasibility of computer-simulation models of the developmental cycle of domestic groups which may be used to (a) evaluate structural descriptions and (b) decide outstanding questions concerning (1) the relations between social structure and demography and (2) the boundary between statistical variation and structural change. Beginning with the construction of flow charts or decision trees representing the processes involved in household formation and dissolution, our intention is to examine the content and form of developmental, demographic, and other modules required to construct a working system. To the extent that it proves feasible such models may be expected to have both a short-run sociological and long-run health-related significance. The short-run significance of the models grows out of their expected utility in resolving issues concerning structural change and variation, in exploring the effects of demographic factors on household size, and in clarifying the link between individual and aggregate societal levels of analysis in studies of the relations between household structure and differential fertility. In the long run household simulation models have substantial potential implications for assessing the effects of a wide range of population-responsive and population-influencing social policies.